Mumbai attack 'mastermind' detained again

Lakhvi was believed to be the operational chief of the banned Pakistani armed group Lashkar-e-Taiba [Reuters]

Pakistan has issued a fresh detention order against one of the alleged masterminds of the 2008 attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai, reports say.

Indian broadcaster NDTV reported on Tuesday that Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi has been detained for the second time in Pakistan a day after he was granted bail by an Islamabad court.

The latest government action comes after India protested against the Islamabad High Court overturned government's earlier decision to detain him following his bail.

Lakhvi was bailed out on December 18 by an anti-terrorism court, prompting quick condemnation from India and threatening to hinder attempts to patch up relations between the two countries.

A day later Pakistan's government extended Lakhvi's detention under the Maintenance of Public Order law, which was challenged by him on December 26.

Lakhvi was believed to be the operational chief of the banned Pakistani armed group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) that was blamed for one of India's worst carnage in recent years. During the 60-hour rampage in 2008, a group of gunmen attacked luxury hotels, a popular cafe, a train station and a Jewish centre in Mumbai.

The sole surviving gunman, Ajmal Kasab who has since been executed, had identified Lakhvi as the mastermind. Since then, Lakhvi has been held in jail in the city of Rawalpindi.

Lakhvi was arrested in February 2009 and was indicted along with six others in November of the same year for planning and helping to carry out the attacks.